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International Captain

The Broncos started up as a club to enable Queenslanders to play in the best rugby league competition while living in their home state.

The Broncos started up as a club to enable Queenslanders to play in the best rugby league competition while living in their home state.

Maybe it should be remembered amid the analysis of their retention and recruiting options.

The Broncos strayed from their Lewis-and-Miles charter in recent years when they got wrapped up in recruiting and retaining players who happened to be from New Zealand or NSW. These include current hot-property free agent Tevita Pangai Jnr and two more, Payne Haas and Matt Lodge, who seem set to stay at Red Hill long term.

The Broncos’ recruiting is at least heading in the right direction when you consider in the present and future Tully’s Tom Flegler and Goondiwindi’s Pat Carrigan will be taking hit-ups which will allow Acacia Ridge’s Anthony Milford and Mackay’s Tom Dearden to go to work.

The key for the Broncos in their patient rebuild towards a premiership is that talented boys and their families from places like Rockhampton, Toowoomba and Brisbane will have their imaginations fired by how the lads from Tully and Goondiwindi are going.

It was a win for the Broncos that Dearden and his family came away from a restaurant with Roosters powerbroker Nick Politis — a man used to hearing “yes’’ — and elected that he would stay with the Broncos.

It was well and truly time for the Broncos to kick Queensland recruiting goals.

The NRL’s flagship club with unmatched resources did not haul in Cameron Smith, Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater, Greg Inglis and Cameron Munster with their statewide dragnet.

It’s been suggested that if Pangai, from Newcastle via the Raiders, joins a Sydney club in 2020 and spurns a three-year Brisbane deal that it’s a “disaster’’ for the Broncos. If he does re-sign with Brisbane, it’s hard to see how they can keep all their younger forwards over the same time period.

A couple of the younger forwards do speak highly of the example Pangai, 23, sets them in the care he takes in his preparation. So he’s got that going for him.

The nightmare scenario for the Broncos is that Craig Bellamy, having brought Munster and Brodie Croft in from Queensland to revitalise Melbourne, might conjure the next great Queenslander from behind a McDonald’s counter or wherever the hell Storm gets them from.

Storm forward Christian Welch, who I believe is an excellent chance of being named in his first Queensland team on Monday week, is an example of how NRL recruiting is such an imprecise, but valuable science.

Welch says he was “an inside centre or flyhalf’’ for the Villanova College First XV rugby union team in 2011 while playing club union, other than one year of under-14 league for Easts Carina.

The raw boned teen was invited to train in 2012 with a Broncos development squad by recruiter Paul Bunn, with the option to train at Red Hill during the next pre-season.

Bunn saw the makings of a front-rower in his size and frame and when Bunn was hired by the Storm there was a two-year deal for Welch at the end of 2012 with the Melbourne under-20 team.

International Rep

who cares? We want the best players, who cares where there from. The only people that care about this shit is Gordon Tallis and the Sydney media that miss the days where origin would decimate us and ruin our season.

International Rep

who cares? We want the best players, who cares where there from. The only people that care about this shit is Gordon Tallis and the Sydney media that miss the days where origin would decimate us and ruin our season.

NRL Player

Who wrote this xenphobic shite? It's a national competition meaning we should recruit from anywhere so long as the talent is worthwhile and they want to play for us.

Sydneysiders still whinge that we have the whole of Queensland to pick from and should therefore be a powerhouse team. They forget that they have exact same access as we do. In some cases more so if they are aligned to various clubs.There is nothing stopping them from scouting the length and breadth of this great state. The same applies to us in NSW.

QCup Player

It would be a good exercise to name an all time non Qld broncos side.
1. Kahu
2. Devere
3 glenn
4 Chris Johns
5 isaako
6 mundine
7 peter Wallace
8 lazerous
9 Priddis
10 lodge
11 tpj
12 t matterson
13 Haas
It's a bit sketchy but that's my attempt off the top of my head (probably left someone out but thats how it goes). I would have like to fit staggs and Glenn but of the two Glenn has had a more distinguished career.

From an outside of Queensland prospective our WA men's state team has won the Affiliated State Championships for the last 8 years.
The last Victorian team to win was 2010,
though the Under 18s won a number of consecutive years. Not sure why but the U18s hasn't been run since 2017.

BRL Player

While I would hope that the Broncos always have a majority of Qld players, (I never want to see a day when we have very few to none) I don't care if we have kiwis in the team (less of a problem come State of Orgin). The only reason I'd want to err on the side of less from NSW is to lessen the impact of feeding two origin teams, which has been a problem in the past. All things being equal, if it's a choice between two players of similar caliber and one is from Qld and one from NSW, I'd want the one from Qld.

NYC Player

While I would hope that the Broncos always have a majority of Qld players, (I never want to see a day when we have very few to none) I don't care if we have kiwis in the team (less of a problem come State of Orgin). The only reason I'd want to err on the side of less from NSW is to lessen the impact of feeding two origin teams, which has been a problem in the past. All things being equal, if it's a choice between two players of similar caliber and one is from Qld and one from NSW, I'd want the one from Qld.

QCup Player

Its also a different time. The Broncos cant just go after QLD talent, they have to go after the best talent available in the world. The game is not just a two state game now. Quality is in the Pacific in the Uk and even in Europe. The internet has opened up the world to scouts and this is a good thing.

Also striking a balance is a positive thing in a team. Having 6 or more out of your first 13 playing origin is not good for a premiership. We probably will field three to four this year in origin. Oats, Haas, Gillette and Lodge. Origin has the potential to put people into form but also has the risk of injury and burnout.

BRL Player

That's a little simplistic, have to agree with hearlty87, origin has a huge impact if there are too many players from one team involved, and this has been an issue for us (and other teams) in the past.

Its also a different time. The Broncos cant just go after QLD talent, they have to go after the best talent available in the world. The game is not just a two state game now. Quality is in the Pacific in the Uk and even in Europe. The internet has opened up the world to scouts and this is a good thing.

I totally agree, but as a QLD team (and the first QLD team at that) I would always hope that we have a majority of Qlders in our team. Given the main squad is made up of 30 players, I can't see why it'd be hard to have 16 or so from Qld.

NYC Player

QCup Player

I got mocked for raising this exact point last week, but it's true. The Broncos have lost their way in promoting local talent, and that will translate to local fans feeling like this team less represents them.

NRL Player

I got mocked for raising this exact point last week, but it's true. The Broncos have lost their way in promoting local talent, and that will translate to local fans feeling like this team less represents them.

It's not about winning. It's about tribe.

Melbourne can win. But they have no tribe.

May 15, 2019 - Merged

I disagree. Sport is more interesting when your team feels like their your tribe. When Melbourne wins, no one in Victoria cares.

May 15, 2019 - Merged

Well that's patently untrue. We're the current belt holders. We knocked out the champ.

International Rep

I got mocked for raising this exact point last week, but it's true. The Broncos have lost their way in promoting local talent, and that will translate to local fans feeling like this team less represents them.

It's not about winning. It's about tribe.

Melbourne can win. But they have no tribe.

May 15, 2019 - Merged

I disagree. Sport is more interesting when your team feels like their your tribe. When Melbourne wins, no one in Victoria cares.

May 15, 2019 - Merged

Well that's patently untrue. We're the current belt holders. We knocked out the champ.